The research, published in the journal Cell Metabolism, also suggests that lifespan could be extended by manipulating the ratio of macronutrients in the diet.

“This research has enormous implications for how much food we eat, our body fat, our heart and metabolic health, and ultimately the duration of our lives,” said Professor Steve Simpson.

“We have shown explicitly why it is that calories aren’t all the same — we need to look at where the calories come from and how they interact.”

Asked whether humans faced the unenviable choice of whether to be slim or live longer, Prof Le Couteur said “the whole evolutionary purpose is to grow and reproduce, not to live longer”.

“The high protein diet may be more useful for growth and reproduction,” he said.

Mice on the high protein content diets in the study started to reduce their food intake once protein intake exceeded about 10 kilojoules per day.

Those mice on the high carbohydrate diets had to eat more and only cut their food intake once their carbohydrate intake exceeded 15 kilojoules per day.

The study found the fat content of the diet had no negative influence on food intake.

Total energy was highest in the low protein and low carbohydrate diets because mice overate to achieve the body’s protein or carbohydrate targets.

The same journal today also publishes US research on humans which finds a high protein diet among those aged 50-65 increased death rates and resulted in a fourfold increase in cancer death in the following 18 years.

However, a high protein diet in those aged over 65 was associated with reduced cancer and death but a fivefold increase in diabetes mortality.